sarameg, Loki is a member of the feline contingent, correct?

Yes, strictly feline household. On the blueberry-scented wellness fatass formula with a couple of cans of crack. All below the necessary diet.

I am still waiting to find out who I gotta pay for the car payments.

Yes, strictly feline household. On the blueberry-scented wellness fatass formula with a couple of cans of crack. All below the necessary diet.

That's about as good as it gets, by way of quality dry food. It does have several unnecessary forms of plant material in it (unnecessary to feline nutrition, that is - dry food pretty much has to have some kind of starch in order to maintain the crunchiness). If switching completely over to high quality canned food is not gonna happen (that has made it much easier for me to manage Harvey's weight) then the only thing I can think of to suggest is getting some treat dispensing toys to put the kibble in to make Loki work for his supper. This [link] works nicely for my cats who get a very small about of kibble as a snack in the middle of the day. Unless you are already doing that, in which case, ignore me.

Hey WindSparrow, what do you think of Before Grains? My cats have all loved it in a way I don't usually see with the healthy food brands.

high quality canned food

Which one do you feed them, Andi? I like Sheba (as do they), but I can't find it locally anymore.

Burrel, Before Grains Dry or Canned? The dry does have some potato and sweet potate. But it has plenty of actual meat in it and a dry food has to have some kind of starch or it wouldn't hold shape as kibble (I believe). It does seem to have a few ingredients added just to appeal to human sensibilities - the blueberry, for instance. (Rosemary extract is used as a preservative, and as such is miles ahead of some of the ugly artificial ones) After all of Harvey's urinary tract troubles, I look at dry food as nice snack, but feed mine wet food for their main meals, and wholehearted encourage others to do so as well. The B.G. Canned is very good stuff indeed. I keep my cupboards full of several brands and flavors of whatever foods pass both my standards for quality and have neither fish nor chicken due to Harvey's allergies. Merrick is on my short list as a brand. I actually use the Cowboy Cookout and Thanksgiving Dinner, though. Other brands currently on hand include Nature's Variety and Natural Balance.

Zenkitty, the best guidance I can give you is to learn how to read ingredients labels, so you can choose the best of what is available in your area and in your budget. Here is a website that can give you more information: [link] The short version is this. The better foods have specific muscle meats (rather than by-products or meat meals) in the first couple of ingredients. Any grains or other starches are much further down the list - the lower, the better. Avoid by-products altogether. Many cats do not tolerate soy, corn or wheat, so you may wish to avoid those as well. It is unlikely that you will find the better cat foods at Walmart, or at your local grocery store. And yes, you may find yourself standing around in a pet store, reading labels for a long time - I do it myself, whenever I consider a new brand.

If you get concerned that these better brands are costlier, here is something to think about. The cheaper brands are cheaper because they have so much in the way of cheap filler - i.e. grain. Because cats are obligate carnivores, they are not designed to digest grains very well, and do not derive much nutrition from them. In order to get the nutrients that they need from the cheaper foods, cats will eat more. Because the better foods are more nutritionally dense, cats are more satisfied eating less. I know that I can feed my cats portions of foods such as Natural Balance, Eagle Pack, Merrick, Nature's Variety, Wellness, Blue Buffalo, and several others, that are half the size of the portions I fed them of Iams or Hill's or Purina products. This offsets the difference in price. Also, I have learned by hard experience that the less I spend on cat food, the more I spend at the veterinarian's office. Of all the times that I have taken my cats to the veterinarian for over the last fifteen years that had nothing to do with the quality of the food they eat - there was one birth defect (umbilical hernia), the usual maintenance (shots, spay, neuter, annual exams, dental cleanings), and one infection that were unrelated to what the cats were eating. Every other health issue my cats had, including several episodes of bloody stool, scratching ears bloody from reactions to food allergies, struvite crystals - hundreds of dollars in veterinary costs, were all from diet. So don't forget to factor those costs into your pet food budget, eh? Oh, and one incalculable benefit of feeding the higher quality foods - because they eat less and digest more of it, their poo tends to be smaller and less... um... fragrant.

Hi, my name is Andi and I'm a pet food snob.

I marked that post for future reference, Andi, for when I inevitably get another cat. That's hugely useful information.

It is years of hard experience and learning with Harvey, Anne. May your future cat(s) enjoy years of better health because of the increased nutritional value of your food choices. Sadly many vets and vet techs only know about pet nutrition what they have been taught at seminars sponsored by Iams or Hill's.

Speaking of muscle meats, I'm reading Gulp by Mary Roach and she points out, from a carnivore/omnivore perspective, it's much better to eat organ meats since they have more nutrition to offer than just protein. She mentions that in animals in the wild, they do eat organ meats for the two-fer aspect of eating the animal and whatever the other animal had eaten.

Sorry to be gross so early in the morning.

Ari Shapiro = ROWR.

A friend yarn bombed my classroom. It freaked me out.

Is that like TPing, only stringier?